Minerva’s At 100 On Good Customer Service, Long-Standing Traditions, Family Values, and Just Darn-Good Sweets

“Minerva, if you look up mythology, is the Roman goddess of wisdom. Athena is the Greek goddess of wisdom and my grandfather came from Greece,” said Mark Monezis, owner of Minerva’s Bakery, so why not name the bakery in honor of wisdom?

Anyone stopping by the storefront at 927 Fifth Avenue in McKeesport will soon learn that it is not just a 100-year-old McKeesport business, but that it is a family bakery, built on tradition, that brings in customers from throughout the region.

The family-owned business opened in 1923 by Monezis’ grandfather. Later, when Monezis’ father was the owner, Mark was in the third grade and before going off to school each day, Mark learned the bakery trade by helping with dough fillings.

“According to my father, there used to be 18 bakeries in McKeesport. It [the city] had 55,000 people at the time and now it is down to 18,000 to 20,000,” Monezis said. Regardless of population, the Minerva’s tradition continued and each generation had a hand in work at the bakery. Just ask Kate Malson, daughter of the current owner.

“When I was about 13, I would make boxes and or pack the buns for the holidays or pack nut rolls or open [the store] occasionally. My brother would help out all the time, too, when we were kids,” Malson said.

Monezis also mentioned that he would have aunts, uncles and cousins work at the bakery throughout the years. As a result, Malson said that growing up, she would be working with her cousins, her dad, grandpa, and aunt.

“I think people like the old time feel of coming here… it’s an experience as opposed to going to a supermarket for a cake or something like that, even though a lot of people are doing that now because they want everything the easiest and fastest way,” Malson said.

Monezis said that he learned throughout the years that customers appreciated Minerva’s traditional recipes because “a lot of our formulas that we use go back to the late 30s and 40s. Our pumpkin pie formula that we have goes back to a German baker from the 1930s and we do it the exact same way they did it back then,” Monezis said.

Like the Minerva’s tradition itself, tradition keeps the customers coming in.

“For Easter, we’ll make our peep cakes, which are a tradition, too, for some of our families. We just stick to what we know our customers like the most,” Malson said. “I think when people think of us they think of our paska bread, especially for the holidays. I think that becomes a tradition for families. It’s like egg bread.”

Cakes would be the baked good sold the most, but Malson and Monezis also have the display cases and shelves packed with plenty of danishes, donuts, coffee cakes, and french puff pastry.

“These different baked goods that are traditional to us…we like to talk about [them] because if somebody comes in here and they say what should we get, what are you guys known for, we like to share that with them,” Malson said.

When asked if they planned on doing anything differently in the future, the owner and his daughter said probably not, adding that even those who come to Minerva’s for their traditional items, those customers are likely to say, “Oh, let’s try something new today.”

Like other long-time McKeesport businesses, Minerva’s legacy is “family,” according to Malson, because she said it starts with her dad, a third-generation owner.

“But we all work here. I help when I can and when my brother is in town, he’ll help. My husband comes nearly every Saturday and even he is learning. We have been married for four years and he is learning how to make dough and fillings.”

Minerva’s customers enjoy being welcomed by a person instead of communicating through a technological device. Malson added that they maintain relationships with their customers through meaningful connections. They like to hear how customers’ days are going. She emphasized that it is important to talk to the customers and get to know them better.

“I would say the main way we show appreciation to our customers is by listening to them, talking to them about their day and what they are up to…knowing what they like and don’t like,” Malson said. After catching up with regular customers for so many years, she added that it is not just knowing what they like from the shelves and display cases, but they get to know the people.

“Grandma would come, great grandma would come since we’re going on 100 years. A lot of our customers are generational. Everybody grew up getting our cakes, and we can say how’s so and so been because we get to know their families,” Malson said.

The bakery also prides itself on good customer service that keeps people coming back. Just ask the customers, as a few of them were heading out of the bakery after making their purchases:
–“Best bakery around. We like the traditionality of it. It’s a family-owned business, so they give back to local people.”
— “Their cakes are good. My dad used to live up the street and he would go up to his mom’s every Saturday and bring his mom a Minerva cake. It was nice.”

Family favorites from Minerva’s? Monzis said that his favorite part about the desserts is “our cheese filling, be it in a piece of danish or in a holiday roll or cold dough cookies with our cheese filling.”

For Malson, “My favorite is probably our cinnamon bread…at home we always make french toast with it. Growing up that was always my favorite, along with our sandwich buns.”

Minerva’s Bakery, 927 Fifth Avenue…412-673-2863 open Tuesday through Saturday, 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Located just around the corner from UPMC McKeesport Hospital.

Photos courtesy: Mariah Greene

Story by: Mariah Greene (mmg5949@psu.edu)